Ilford Galerie Gold Mono Silk is a new paper specifically designed for black & white inkjet printing. It’s a 270gsm, fibre-based paper with a cool white base (L*a*b* coordinates measured at 95.9, 1.2, -4.0). Its surface closely resembles traditional fibre papers used in the darkroom with an air-dried glossy appearance. A very subtle surface texture/stipple adds to its appeal.
Gloss differential (the difference in sheen between printed and non-printed areas) is negligible. After careful tuning of media settings and linearisation done in-house by Macquarie Editions, Gold Mono Silk delivers an outstanding Dmax of 2.7 (L* 1.8) whilst preserving full separation through the shadows to the deepest blacks. As its name would claim, this is possibly the current gold standard for black & white inkjet prints, especially where a similar appearance to traditional darkroom prints is desired. Availability of this new paper in a range of sizes is currently limited.